Toy.



f lToy.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.24| 1915- RENEWED AUG. I3, i917. l,259,7

E; SAVAGE;y

Patented Mar. 19, 1918.

WIT/VESSES:

dem

nur onirica@ EDWARD S. SAVAGE, 0F ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

TOY.

.Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar, 19a, 1918,

Application led December 24, 1915, Serial No. 68,494. Renewed August 13, 1917. Serial No. 186,057.

To all whom 'it may concer/n.'

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. SAVAGE, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toys; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon. n

My presentl invention relates =to toys and more particularly to dolls and other forms simulating living or fanciful objects and it has for its object to provide a simple, cheap and eiiicient flexible joint between parts of such dolls or figures that it is desired to` render relatively adjustable in lateral directions, which joint will be durable and sightly and, through being less bulky than joints of types heretofore used and for other reasons, will constitute a better imitation of the joints of living things. A further object of the invention is to provide a structure that may be easily and safely contorted to closely imitate the behavior of lithe and supple animate bodies such as those of fish, snakes, etc. To these and other ends the invention resides in certainimprovements and combinations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a-doll figure constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a'longitudinal sectional view thereof, partly in elevation;

Fi s. 3 and 4 are detail sections of modified orms of joints embodying features of my invention, and i Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of a strip of material entering into the construction of the doll shown.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate the same parts.

In the present embodiment of the invention, I have illustrated a toy figure representing a mermaid. It consists of a body portion 1, a tail portion 2, an intermediate described, the novell bedded in the material connecting portion indicated generally at 3, a head 4, arm sectionsl 5,hand sections 6 and elbow, shoulder and neck joints 7 8 and 9, respectively. CThe fish-like portion of the mermaids body will rst be described.

The body l may be made of wood or any suitable preferably solid material. The tail 2 is preferably a metal casting or, at any rate, it is made as heavy as possible proportionately to its size. Between these two terminal portions is` the flexible portion 3 which I make of a Soft, light, compressible and expansible material that, in the present instance, is circular in cross section. I contemplate the use of felt in this capacity and construct the portion 3 of a plurality of laminations 10, the successive superposed `felt disks that constitute it being of progressively increasing or decreasing diameters to produce the proper shape and having their approximate faces glued or cemented together. The disk at one end is secured to the body 1 and that at the other end to the tail 2. Extending centrally through the three members l, 2 and 3 is a flexible but non-elastic core piece 11. I prefer to form this core piece of one or more strands of soft iron wire which can be easily ,and repeatedly bent without breaking and which has a tendency to remain in distorted positions. One end of this wire is anchored in the tail piece 2 as shown at 12 and 1s preferably hooked, cast or otherwise emthereof, while the other end extends into the body l and in the present instance, I have shown the same wire extended through to the head 4 1n which latter its yterminal is anchored in a cement body 13. This permits the same wlre to be utilized for the neck joint 9 to be later referred to.

The portion 3 may be suitably covered with fabric or other yielding or expanslble material and in the present mstance, pre-V fer to form this covering in a continuous manner by winding about it a strip of material of the nature shown in Fig. 5 so that thel convolutions overlap and y securmg such overlapping ortlons together w1th glue. One edge o the stripill 1s made straight for this purpose` wwe the otherl edge is scalloped toproduce flexible tongues 15 simulating the scales of a fish.

It will be readily understood from the foregoing that the terminal portions 1 and 2 may be bent back and forth into diilerent relative positions, the intermediate portion 3 yielding laterally in a graceful curve and the non-elastic core piece 11 serving to both hold the parts together and to retain them in the distorted positions. As the bend is made, the felt material in the larger arc beyond the curve of the central wire is expanded and that on the shorter arcs within the curve of the central wire is compressed. These strains to which the laminated material is subjected are not sutlicient, however, to disrupt the bers of which it is composed and its texture remains unimpaired though repeated reversals in the direction of movement may alternately subject it to expansion and contraction. The covering material 14 assists by acting as a binder and both the inside and outside external surfaces at the bend assume a symmetrical curve without any tendency toward'iiattening.

\ The particular doll figure illustrated is capable of maintaining itself in the partially erect position shown in Fig. 1. In this position, the intermediate fish-like portion 3 serves as a support in contact with the ground line for the body 2, by virtue of the fact that the tail portion 2, being relatively heavy, acts as a counterweight at the other end. Though the kportion 3 may be and probably is laterally rounded also, it is prevented from rolling over in that plane by the laterally disposed iin portions 16 that take a wide contact.

The elbow, shoulder and neck joints 7, 8 and 9, before referred to, may be similarly constituted of laminated felt and as pre' viously mentioned, the same core piece 1l that extends through the portion 3 may be used also for the neck 9. Similarly, a single core wire 17 suffices for the two vjoints in both arms, theextremities being anchored in cement bodies 18 in the respective hand pieces-6 which latter are solid as are the armsections 5. In the case of these joints, instead of the scale covering before described, I may use a smooth covering 19 of an extensible fabric that Will stretch over the round of the joints as the bend is made. This fabric covering is glued to the solid parts such as the parts 1, 5, 6 and 4. The symmetrical curves of the bends at the joints that I obtain through my invention are well illustrated in Fig. 2.

The joints shown in Fig. 2 are all universal joints, that is, they permit a bend to be made in any lateral direction. If a one-way joint is deslred, such as that of the elbow or knee, the core piece may be 'formed of a :dat metal ribbon as shown at 2O in Fig. 4 that can be bent only in one plane which is that at right angles to its own plane, and iurther, the terminal portions 5 and 6 at each side of the joint may have their adjacent ends arranged so close together as at 21 that they permit no substantial compression of the felt at that side while permitting expansion and be tapered oil' at the otherside as shown at 22 to allow for substantial compression of 'the felt.

In Fig. 3, two -flat core blades 23 are anchored in cement bodies 24 in the terminal pieces 5 and 6 and are pivoted together at 25 at the center of the laminated portion 10 to turn in a definite plane but in either direction in that plane.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a toy, the combination with a body portion, a weighted portion and a laterally flexible intermediate supporting portion upon which the toy is adapted to rest, the

weighted portion acting as a counter weight for the body portion.

2. In a toy, the combination with a body portion, a laterally iexible intermediate supporting portion and a weighted terminal portion adapted to counterweight the body portion, the intermediate portion being adapted to retain the diii'erent positions to which it is adjusted under the weight of the body ortion.

3. Iiii a toy, the combination with abody portion, a weighted portion and a laterally flexible intermediate supporting portion .of substantially circular cross section, the weighted portion being adapted to act as a counter weight for the body portion and. being provided with lateral extensions to prevent lateral rocking movement of the intermediate portion.

4. A flexible joint :for toys comprisingtwo terminal portions and a laterally iexible intermediate connecting portion composed of Aa plurality of transversely disposed laminations of expansible and oompressible material and an expansible covering secured to the terminal ortions.

7. A flexible joint for toys comprising two terminal portions, a laterally iiexible lntermediate connecting portion composed of a pluralit of transversely disposed laminations o expansible and compressible material and a core piece of flexible but nonelastic material anchored in the terminal ing a core piece anchored in the terminal portions and extending through the conportions and extending through the con- 1 necting portlon. f necting portion.

-8. A flexi e 'oint or toys comprisin two 5 terminal portiolns, a laterally lexible lgnter- EDWARD S SAVAGE mediate connecting portion composed of a Witnesses: plurality of transversely disposed lamina- RUSSELL B. r: :i tions of felt and a soft iron Wire constitut- AGNES Nnsm Braam. 

